Lines, Sheets, Ropes and Colors

[GordMay]

Rope Whipping:
The Sailmaker's Whipping
http://www.ropeworks.biz/reader/whipping.pdf

[Maren]

Originally Posted by MV

What are whippings?

You weren't a boy scout, were you?

[kiwisailor]

I have sailed for many years but I have not really considered the color of sheets and lines until I bought my first boat a few years back. I have come to realise that there seems to be an industry standard that is simple and maybe no one has considered it important enough to write down. Talk to your local rigging company. My local rigging company - Florida Rigging here in South Florida will be able to confirm this and are very good at their job.

Main Halyard Solid blue, Main sheet White with Blue fleck
Headsail Halyard - Solid Red, Sheets White with Red fleck
Spinnaker Haylard - Solid Green, Sheets White with Green fleck
Secondard halyards and lines can be a combination.
ie. 2nd Forward Halyard is Solid red with two White flecks etc.
2nd Aft halyard is solid Blue with two White flecks.

I'm not sure about reef lines but they are rarely used and simple to make up your own combination and have them differentiate from each other and other lines.

In my opinion anyone who uses the same colors for different sheets is asking for trouble whether they single hand or not. Keeping halyard colours similar to the corresponding sheet helps too and is always easy to remember. Everybody wants to be a better skipper don't they?

[David M]

Originally Posted by MidLandOne

Surely there must be a standard colour scheme for all sorts of ropes, standing and running rigging that was used on the old sailing ships. There is no way anyone could have remembered or worked out which was which without such a scheme.

Couldn't we could just use that.

Old sailing ships did not have colored line available...unless it was brown for Manila and white for cotton. Or are you yanking our chains?

[Pblais]

I've never cared much for colors. I label all the locations as well as all the clutches. The jib sheets explain themselves clearly with no label as does the main sheet. That leaves 7 others led aft and on the starboard and port cabin top. If I didn't label them the Admiral would be dropping the halyards instead of letting out the stay sail clew. I do have red and green reefing lines since they are side by side but also labeled too.

You really can't just tell by looking where the lines run unless you were the deck hand that installed them all. I try to buy good rope on sale and to get a good price for good material you can't be picky about colors. I would not want all the lines the same color.

[redcobra]

Port sheets are red, Starboard sheets are green, first reef is green, second reef is red, main halyard and main sheet are blue. Roller furling line is smaller and blue, Genoa Halyard #1 is Green and #2 (spare) is red. All have stopblocks which are labled. Mizzen halyard is red and sheet is blue. Running backstays are white.
I think that's it.

ps: all are flecked not solid color.

[sck5]

I have been on a lot of boats where the first reef was green and the second one was red.

[svHyLyte]

When we were younger and very involved in the racing circuit, color coding was standardized so that crew shifting from yacht to yacht could recognize the purpose of each line regardless of what yacht they were serving on and there was no time lost to "learing the ropes".

Green lines generally were lines serving the main sail, blue line typically serving the jib and red lines the spinnaker.

One's mainsheet might be white with green tracers (although we preferred solid green); the main halyard solid green or white with green tracers (which we preferred); jib halyards were solid blue with white tracers; jib sheets white with blue tracers (if one cannot distinguish between the port and starboard jib sheets without color coding, one should not go upon the water, eh?); jib furling (after that was introduced) blue with white tracers or black with blue tracers; spinnaker halyards white with red tracers; spinnaker pole lift solid red, pole foreguy red with white tracers, etc. Outhauls were black and white; reefs where red, white and blue (1st, 2nd, 3rd) etc. We still follow this convention and it has worked for us for 40+ years. Note that the handles of stoppers are similarly color coded with tape tho' that needs be renewed annually (so who can tell me what a green stopper handle locks down?).

FWIW...

[David M]

After all these responses, it seems that working out some sort of international standard would be worthless because of all the different types of boats, rigs and personal preferences. Much like trying to herd cats.

[Weyalan]

For what it is worth, it is, in general, significantly cheaper to buy rope by the reel, rather than by the foot (especially if you buy directly from the manufacturer), so unless you have particularly deep pockets (which I definitely don't), you can end up with lseveral ropes the same color... so best to just remember which is which by position, not color.

[Pblais]

you can end up with several ropes the same color... so best to just remember which is which by position, not color.

I've done well just not caring about color. I got a great deal on 162 ft of half inch double braid that was black and white. Made one continuous jib sheet and a boom vang. All the same color. Could be worse. I could not get them confused. If you prefer to pay more and pick the colors it's fine.

[Mule]

You guys want a color code, numerically designated? 1 to as many as 60 separate colored ropes, (special order of course)? Have I got a plan for you. All you have to do with the crew is yell a number with instruction and your crew will know exactly which one to grab.

This will be based on the telephone cable color code, I was a Bell cable splicer so I can fix you up with a color code. There are 10 base colors, then 25 standard base using tracer then 25 more reverse base using tracer, why I bet we can use stripes, whippings, tape and special weave ropes to get into the thousands. Now as for practical application...that aint my department.

[Blue Stocking]

Midland One,
Commercial sailing ships did use a standarized layout at the deck level of each mast, for similar rigged masts.
My father, who went to sea at the age of nine years (1910) as an orphan, to work as a cabin boy on coastal schooners in South America, told me it was the first thing you had to learn. New crew were positioned on a halyard or sheet right behind the lead hauler ( who incidentally, was called the "come-along", see the connection?).

[hellosailor]

Buy the spool, then use colored whipping if you need to color code. (Magic marker bleaches out.) If you're really creative, you can use different whipping schemes so you can tell the lines apart at night by the feel of the whipping, too. (WEG)

[Squeaks]

As I am in the process of rebuilding my rig (new standing, running rigging, lights, wire, radar) and the fact that that my boat does not have a spinnacher (sp?) but in stead, twin down-wind 150% poled out jibs, my running rigging is basically red (either solid or white w/ traces) to port and green to starboard for the headsail halyards & pole lifts with mainsail control lines being blue. Flag halyard is still boring white :-)